There was a moment's pause and then Jesus rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and as was the custom for one about to teach, he sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. With quiet purpose, Jesus said simply, "Today, as you have listened to this scripture, it is fulfilled."

Up till now, except for his baptism and the event at Herod's temple, Jesus had revealed himself only to individuals and very small groups. He had yet to make any public announcement regarding himself. But today in the synagogue, in his hometown, among the people who knew him best, he did.

There were some who, though the power of the Spirit was evident, were oblivious to it. They were taken rather with the pleasure of seeing one of their own become famous and then return to the place where he grew up. Comprehension of what Jesus had just said escaped them. "You can see he hasn't changed," they twittered. "He is still Joseph's son," said another. Though all spoke well of him and were titillated at the gracious words that came from his lips, they also remembered the time when he was five, fell out of a fig tree and went crying to his mother. They remembered him arguing with his brothers over riding up front on the ox cart and being scolded by his father for throwing rocks at another boy in town when he didn't get his way. They'd laughed when, as an awkward fourteen year old, working in father's workshop, he'd tripped over a pile of wood and a basket of nails went flying. They remembered the times when he suffered as he learned the obedience required of a Jewish boy and when as a young man he struggled to become a man. They did not see him as the Son of Man, much less the Son of God; they saw him as the son of Joseph, a local worker of wood. They saw him as a son who had "made good." Some of them wondered if a part of the "old Jesus" was still with him.

"I remember when he wasn't such a know-it-all," said some. "I remember when he was one of us," said others. "He still is one of us!" The whispers about Jesus' fame and his roots ran like fire among the hearers.

Nazareth was a town of basics, proud and independent, rebellious. People who spent their childhood in Nazareth were different than the rest. They thought themselves special. No one was wealthy and those who hadn't grown up there were considered "outsiders." They boasted of hard work and simple lives. If the truth be known, most of them were uncomfortable when they left their safe, familiar surroundings. They did not "fit" with people outside their own, and those who did venture away were often scorned. The inhabitants of Nazareth were forever imprinted with a narcissistic character. They even spoke with their own distinctive accent. Jesus may become famous in other parts of the world. It was natural. What would you expect? He is one of us. But we remember him as he was. We remember . . .

Jesus, aware of their pretentious affection, their superficiality, said to them, "You wish me to entertain you with miracles." A statement, not a question. "You would like me to do here in my hometown what you have heard I did elsewhere. Perhaps you will even quote that familiar proverb to me: 'Physician, heal yourself!' You think because you knew me as a child that you know me now. You don't! You know me not at all! I am different from you. I have always been different from you. I tell you the truth," he continued, "a prophet is not without honor except in his own hometown, so it appears that I am without honor among you, for you see me not as a prophet."

They did not expect a rebuff. They were shocked. So, this is what we get? Instead of showing us what he can do, we get disrespect?! He believes himself superior to us. Who does he think he is? We knew this boy when he was nothing more than an urchin scurrying about the alleys of Nazareth. "If you are a prophet, Jesus, then act like one! Show us a miracle. Show us a miracle now!"

"There were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time," Jesus went on, "There was no rain for three and a half years and people were starving, yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, except for one poor widow in Zarephath. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha, the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed--only Naaman, the Syrian. I did grow up among you. I played with many of you as a child. Because of this, now you cannot see me for who I am. As both Elijah and Elisha were not accepted by the people, so you do not accept me." Jesus looked at them, not with the contempt they deserved, but with pity and compassion. "You are all forsaken, starving in spirit, and like Naaman, diseased. I leave you to remain as you wish to be."

This was not well received. Most in the synagogue became furious, unruly and loud. A large man, Nathan ben Aminadab, walked up to Jesus and shoved him. Jesus recognized him instantly. When they were younger, Nathan, because of his size and general meanness, enjoyed a reputation as the town bully. He hadn't changed much. Someone else in the crowd shoved him again. Jesus lost his balance and fell. Unhurt, he stood and tried to leave the synagogue where all of this was happening, but the men in the crowd followed, yelling noisily as they went.

As Jesus, followed by the mob, proceeded down the road out of town, they came to a familiar curve beyond which the road fell away into a dangerously steep crevasse. When they were children, Nathan and his companions would drag the smaller boys to the edge of the hill threatening to hurl them headlong down its steep slopes. On one occasion, they did and the child almost died.

As they approached the precipice, the men physically seized Jesus and dragged him to its edge. Their intention was clear. They had spent their lives together as children; now they wanted to hurt him! Just as they were about to catapult him over the cliff, Jesus dug his heels into the earth and shook himself free of the grappling hands of his captors. The crowd, suddenly compelled to silence, stood back, dumbfounded, unable to move. No one attempted to touch him.

Jesus walked with impunity through the crowd and went on his way.

"You know," Nathan murmured to no one in particular, "he could never do that when he was a kid!"

Leaving Nazareth, Jesus found his way once again to Capharnaum by the Sea of Galilee in the region of Naphtali. Zebulon lay to the southwest.